The scope of this topic is so vast that it’s hard to put into words that are easy to comprehend and can elicit a positive response. So hopefully this blog post will shed some light on a topic that is in the news far too often these days.

Industrial and commercial HVAC equipment requires tons of water to operate. Add to that the fact that this equipment needs treatment to keep it running free from scale and corrosion. Historically, that treatment has been toxic chemicals. Cutting-edge technology has been around for more than 25 years, and there are trailblazers who considered the environmental, as well as the financial advantage and made the switch from toxic to safe water treatment.

Protecting our water resources is a difficult job because of the onslaught from so many divergent sources. This is probably an over-simplified description, but according to the definition of Pollution on the United Nations, ‘Water for Life’ article from their website: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/quality.shtml

“Pollution typically refers to chemicals or other substances in concentrations greater than would occur under natural conditions. Major water pollutants include microbes, nutrients, heavy metals, organic chemicals, oil and sediments; heat, which raises the temperature of the receiving water, can also be a pollutant. Pollutants are typically the cause of major water quality degradation around the world.”

If the source of your drinking water comes from a well, your exposure to harmful pollutants is somewhat minimized. If on the other hand, your drinking water is from a public municipality, the process involved to make that water safe, or potable, is a complex one. For water to be made safe for human consumption it must go through a process defined as ‘water-treatment’. This consists of coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and finally disinfection. Obviously, this process uses millions more gallons of water to achieve its goal.

There are measures currently available to stem the tide of water contamination and lessen the impact for future generations; trying to convince people that there’s a different, better way to eliminate that pollution is another obstacle altogether. Expanding your horizons beyond what is familiar and comfortable comes from awareness, knowledge and action to be a part of the solution.

As I watch the news updates about the hurricane in Texas, I'm amazed about the contradictions in our increasingly unstable weather patterns. While the people in Texas are getting apocalyptic amounts of rainfall, the Plains states are experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades. The drought conditions are affecting food and hay crops and searing pastures that feed the cattle, causing many ranchers to sell off their cattle. This drought situation will adversely affect the dry bean crop, wheat and barley production, corn and soybeans, and will eventually be felt in the wallets of consumers. According to the National Weather Service the drought conditions continue across western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming.

Meanwhile, hurricane Harvey is expected to linger for 5 days dumping up to 36 inches of rain in some parts of Texas. There will be major flooding to be sure and yet people will have to drink bottled water, because there will be no clean water available. This disaster too will affect many, far beyond the path of this storm...like the availability of and an increase in the price of gasoline for starters. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum! It's scary to be sure, but that's just what's happening in the U.S.

Natural disasters and extreme weather is going on all around the globe. The tsunami in Japan; landslides in Switzerland; typhoons in Asia; flooding north of Ireland, in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh; earthquake in Italy -- and all these disasters occurred just this past week. It makes doing all we can to lessen our impact to the environment even more urgent. Prayers for all in harm's way.

So often we become stuck on one way of thinking, 1) because it's always worked and 2) is oftentimes the path of least resistance. For as long as we've been in the water treatment business, our primary focus has been on an environmentally responsible way to advance water treatment by eradicating scale and stopping non-biological corrosion in water cooled heat exchange equipment.

In cooperation with our distributor from China, we've discovered that there are other valuable applications for Bon Aquas in an entirely different arena than we had been pursuing. By magnetizing the water, he's proven it can have a profound influence on agricultural crops and commercial flower operations. He has shared the results and photos of a five month experiment of growing peas in a controlled greenhouse environment.

By decreasing the growing season, and increasing the yield and survivability of the plants, there is tremendous opportunity in the agricultural use of this technology, not just for peas, but corn, lilies, roses and beyond.